Process of Scientific Inquiry

Rebecca Skloot’s novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks told the story of the injustice done a a young African American woman, and her family. Henrietta’s cancerous cells were taken from her without her consent, and turned out to be immortal. They were sold all over the world for billions of dollars, while her family, struggling to put food on the table, did not receive a penny of it. Rebecca Skloot uncovers the hidden story of the HeLa cells, and provides a novel not only highly informational, but also with insight to the workings of science. This book outlines the process of scientific inquiry, reveals the contrary forces of altruism and profit that influenced HeLa, and the risks and benefits of profit guiding research as well as the obstacles faced when conducting research for purely altruistic reasons.

The process of scientific inquiry begins with the motivation to uncover the answer to a question. It then requires extensive research to gather all the information that could possibly be useful. Finally, one must put all the pieces of the puzzle together to make sense of all the information gathered and interpret it to answer the question. The last step is to write out what has been learned and publicize it to spread the new knowledge. There are many other factors, however, that also come into play in the process of scientific inquiry.

The forces of altruism and profit both strongly influenced the research of HeLa. Many scientists use HeLa cells to make discoveries in their field just so scientists would have new and useful information. Scientists do, however, still need to make a profit out of their research in order to sustain themselves and their families, so in the end, most scientists are driven by profit. As Ms. Skl...

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... she was very motivated to uncover the story of HeLa, and was not just trying to make a profit, it was hard for her to pay all her bills, and continue researching. Researching solely for altruistic reasons is very uncommon since everyone needs to eventually make a profit in order the keep researching.

Rebecca Skloot’s novel provides much insight into what it means to conduct scientific research. To begin with, she accurately outlines the scientific process, documenting all her steps. She also explains how altruism and profit influenced the research around HeLa, and the pros and cons of profit guiding research. Finally, she shares the obstacles she faced to demonstrate the difficulties of conducting research purely for altruistic reasons. Her novel is an excellent example of how scientific research really works, including all the hidden forces guiding the research.